How's the A pillar visibility?

[pkulak]

Sounds odd, but this is a huge issue for my wife, and she's the one who needs to get onboard before we buy this car, haha.

Anyway, we had a Leaf and the A pillar was huge. Really easy to lose a pedestrian in it. We have a test drive set up in a week, but I was wondering what people's take is before that. Thanks!

 

[DriverOne]

Same as S, big and wide. Definitely need to be careful when pulling out. A whole car can hide behind the right side pillar, and stay hidden as you turn left.

 

[pkulak]

Haha. Ouch, thanks. I'll just have to wait for the test drive and see how much she notices it.

 

[jdw]

You can easily lose a pedestrian or bike in the A pillar, especially entering a roadway where you are both moving slowly and as a result they remain hidden. I’ve learned to be aware and careful of it.

 

[goneskiian]

Yup. What they said. I'm definitely learning to do the A pillar head bob to quickly look around both sides of it.

 

[GottaGetRidOfICE]

There is one intersection near home that is really awkward in the X. It is a relatively steep downhill, with the main road going off to the right, and my path home being a slight left. The temptation in other cars, with better visibility, is to take the left without much slowing down, traffic permitting. In the X, I come to almost a complete stop and have to check and double-check.

 

[vandacca]

I have the same issue when turning on my street (right turn). There is a fence on the corner, so I can't see if traffic is coming down my narrow street until I'm almost at the intersection. But then the A-pillar blocks the view, so I've gotten used to really leaning forward and backward to check for traffic.

I've been meaning to contact the home-owner and ask if they can replace their fence with a see-through fence.

 

[Nosken]

Yes, A-Pillar is thick. Does this help keep the cabin intact in the outstanding crash tests?

 

[pkulak]

It probably needs to be that thick so the window can be so sloped and still pass rollover tests with a heavy battery. It's a shame. I'd have gladly traded 10 highway miles for better visibility.